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Wheels Motoring News Citroen Cactus dares to be a bit different


EVER picked up a car park bump and cursed your luck? The brilliant new Citroen C4 Cactus might just be the car for you. As breaths of fresh air go, the Cac-


tus is like a lung-full of West Scot- land’s finest in the middle of rush- hour London. It’s a car designed to fit into real-world lifestyles where you need lots of places to store bits and pieces. That’s why you’ll find those curi-


ous and distinctive coloured panels along the sides. These ‘AirBump’ air- filled blocks are scratch-resistant and a bit bouncy, so errant supermarket trolleys and swinging coat zips won’t leave a mark. The same material is on the boot and in a few other places too, helping to avoid any ugly and expen- sive bodywork damage. There are door pockets aplenty and


a panoramic glass roof to give a more spacious-feeling cabin, and it’s fair to say that there’s enough rear legroom for adults – just. A really nice touch is the ‘suitcase- style’ interior detailing on the door pulls and glove box. It adds a sense of travel adventure, but there’s loads of room inside the glove-case to add sub- stance to the style. Citroen openly admits the Cactus is


built to a price. That’s half the point; realistic ownership costs. With that in mind it’s amazing how quietly the 1.2-litre 110-horsepower petrol ver- sion bimbles around town. At 30mph


in the fourth of five gears, the loud- est thing is the air conditioning fan, which itself is only lightly breathing away in the background. There’s nothing remarkable about


the way it drives. The soft, chunky seats are unusual these days and very comfortable, the steering is quite slow and unthreatening, and the ride is very smooth over good surfaces and undulating bumps. In terms of raw space there’s more for your money out there. But ‘value’ cars tend to be a bit soulless and that always counts against them. It’s a damn fine everyday car with some great quirks and an unusual look, so parents looking for some- thing livelier-looking to put on the drive will love it; as will people bored with the same old hatchback crowd. Among a sea of relative boredom it dares to be different, and while it’ll raise a few eyebrows, it turns heads and creates big smiles.


FACTS AT A GLANCE


Citroen C4 Cactus 1.2 PureTech 110, circa £16,000.


Engine: 1.2-litre turbocharged petrol unit producing 108bhp and 151lb/ ft of torque


Transmission: Five-speed manual driving the front wheels


Performance: Top speed 117mph, 0-62mph in 9.3 seconds


southwalesargus.co.uk/cars


Friday, July 11, 2014


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